Slamdance 2022 capsule reviews : Forget Me Not, Poppy, Fury, Doggy Love

Mr. C is in the building! It's been a long time, how's everyone doing??!  I’m a little late in chiming in as the Slamdance Film Festival is nearing the last few days of its virtual runtime but you still have a chance to see some gems especially at that $10 See all - Be all inclusive pass! Buy a pass here! At the very least, you can flag & take note of some interesting films so that you can consume now or later! I caught a handful of features that I thought were worth mentioning.

Forget me not

Forget Me Not 

An infuriating look into the navigation & process of getting public education needs met for an all needs abilities child in the NYC school system. Apparently NYC is one of the most segregated school systems in the nation and that includes children with special needs. But not every parent wants to segregate their kids into a special school that is usually much further away from home & metaphorically, further away from society. Some believe it’s best to include their all needs ability child into the public education system so that they can develop & socialize in a normal setting in order to assimilate and progress like the rest. This formula will give the person the skills, support, & confidence to contribute to society. Of course, the NYC education system prefers to segregate the special needs students into a separate environment with or without the parents’ wishes. This documentary will help to enlighten the process and help parents to make the best decision for their child. Fight the power & Forget me not!

 

 

Fury

 Fury

I very much liked this verite styled look into the life of an aspiring amateur MMA fighter in Poland and her internal struggles of finding confidence & pride in herself without attaching it to a meaningless relationship that makes her feel insecure. I loved the grey, doom & gloom look of the background/settings, vibes, & just overall emotions of the film. I’m not sure if it was the small town feels of this little village in Poland or if it was the technical aspects of the shooting of the film. It’s probably a combination of both. It left me wanting to know more of how she ended up. 

 

Poppy

 

 

 

 

 

Poppy

Loved the sentiment that this film presented as Poppy, a gifted person living in New Zealand follows her passion of becoming a car mechanic in a family owned garage while also finding love in all the right places! Of course it’s not all fun n games as Poppy deals with naysayers, haters, & an overprotective brother with his own issues. It's a feel good story and also a reminder to not judge a book by its cover. 

Doggy Love

Doggy love 

An all too realistic, nitty gritty look at a couple that are passionate about saving stray dogs in their makeshift shelter in Iran when the odds are stacked up against them. Religion, the community, & the government  don’t look at dogs in such an endearing way. In contrast, the couple also has a complicated relationship as the only thing that seemingly keeps them together is the love for dogs. The film parallels the struggle for women in society and to what an uphill battle that the dogs are going through. Love the message.

Slamdance Shorts SPACE WIZARDS MUST DIE, MY BROTHER IS DEAF,HELL NIGHT, SHOW ME OTHER PLACES, TERRAIN BEHIND THE EYES, IT'S COMING IT'S REAL, COSBOI, YOUR HOUSEPLANTS ARE SCREAMING, GENEVA JACUZZI’S CASKET and THE STICKLET WEAVER

THE STICKLET WEAVER
Portrait of  Brent Brown who makes puppets out of cardboard. This is a nice portrait of an outsider artist making some really interesting puppets.

GENEVA JACUZZI’S CASKET
Weird images abound in a mix of music and images. I wish I had seen it on a big screen.

YOUR HOUSEPLANTS ARE SCREAMING
A reverse of the norm with a look at life when people are grown in pots by plants. It’s a dark and disturbing flip of things that will haunt you.

COSBOI
A genderqueer individual drives  a car and uses Tik Tok  to explore gender. While I understand what it is going for I’m not certain that it comes together.

ITS COMING ITS REAL
A music video from a son by The Swans made up of news and TV clips.

TERRAIN BEHIND THE EYES
Images of various terrains turned in all sorts of directions in an experimental film that is often hypnotic. Another film I wish I had seen on a big screen

SHOW ME OTHER PLACES
An experimental film ade up of various images. Interesting, but not quite my cup of tea.

HELL NIGHT
Three pledges must renounce stereotypes to get into a Latina sorority. This is a mix of horror and social commentary that mostly works.

MY BROTHER IS DEAF
An excellent documentary of a five year old explaining how his little brother is deaf and what he and his family are doing to help his brother adjust. This film will make your heart feel warm

SPACE WIZARDS MUST DIE
Short animated episodes about a wizard's squire  tries to help his boss fight an evil... Its an amusing animated romp.

Slamdance HONEYCOMB and RETROGRADE

HONEYCOMB
Five young girls go into the wilderness and move into a cabin.

Avalon Fast's first feature has creepy opening moments and a few fleeting one later on, and it shows great promise visuazlly, unfortunately the script she has saddled her self with isn't very good. It is needlessly wordy and overly pretentious to the point I kept mummbling to myself that no one talks like that.

As bad as the script is the filmmaking shows enough promise that I would be interested in what she does next, especilly if she finds someone else to write the script.

RETROGRADE
A high strung woman is sent spiraling by an traffic ticket. 

Okay comedy isseverely hurt by poor shot choices. While I suspect that the covid crisis played a role in the making of the film it resulted in a film that feels stilted and kind of fake. Blame the arrangement of shots which seems static and like tableau.I particularly did not like the fact that all of the shots in the car are from the back seat looking forward. While I could understand it in the early section when we are in a care with items and people, but later on its always the exact shame shot. It kills the interest in the story because it looks dull.

Therapy Dogs (2022) Slamdance 2022

 This is the graduation video for the high school class of 2019 of a Canadian High School as put together by two students.

Good times. Bad times. Good behavior. Bad behavhior it's all here in what amounts to a film that is exactly like watching someone elses home movies cut up into clips. While some thing that link up to form a "narrative" of sorts, largely this is simply random clips strung together.

I would have been fine with 20 minutes of this but 80 plus is too much

Slamdance 2022 Shorts- THE SPACE BETWEEN YOU,I'M HERE, ONTBINDING, OLD BOYS APPLES,WINTER INSECT SUMMER FLOWER, TAP RUNNER, DEAR MASLOW, SENUAL PILL, SOMEBODY TAKE THE WHEEL, PLANETARIUM

THE SPACE BETWEEN YOU
Two Korean American adoptees connect with their birth mothers. This is a really good short doc. It’s a film that nicely ponders a lot of issues and gives us much to think about. I also love that it doesn’t cut away and allows the meetings between parents and children to play out so we get a better sense of the whys of what happened.

I’M HERE
Animated film about an elderly man taking care of his paralyzed wife.

This is a crushing film. It left me broken and tearful. This  is real like animated and intensified. Its awesome- and I hope to god never ever to see it again.

ONTBINDING
Big headed people wait their turn to climb to the top of a mountain. One decides to cut the line and chaos ensues. Great looking but really weird and deeply disturbing.

OLD BOYS APPLES
This is a really cool looking film about apples and a magic rite and I have no idea but it looks cool.

WINTER INSECT SUMMER FLOWER
Visually impressive story of a trans woman’s journey.  I love the way this look even if I don’t connect to the story.

CHARLOTTE
Animated look at how a song affects a family. Very good.

TAP RUNNER
Dystopian tale of a man who checks to see if taps are leaking but can’t fix them. It’s a tale of a broken society that we aren’t too far from.

DEAR MASLOW
A young woman writes a letter to her ex. Its so short all I can really say is just see it.

SENSUAL PILL
This is hypnotic animation made up from Google Maps satellite images. It’s a stunner that I wish I had seen in a theater on a big screen where I truly could have gotten lost in its images.

SOMEBODY TAKE THE WHEEL
An animated look at the monotony of everyday life. Its full of dry humor and is perfectly timed to both show us the boredom and keep ups locked on the screen.

PLANETARIUM
A man who is gardening finds a small boy in a potted plant. A wild allegory about raising children is worth a look.

Two films set in NYC playing Slamdance

ACTUAL PEOPLE
The life and times of a bunch of college girls in NYC that spins off into romance as Riley becomes interested in a guy from her home town.

I am not sure if I'm the wrong audience for this film being a couple of decades past the age of everyone on screen, or if this look at shallow twenty somethings just isn't good, but I really didn't care much for this film. The problem for me is that its a bunch of shallow characters doing unintesting things.

If these truly are actual people we are doomed.

YELLING FIRE IN AN EMPTY THEATER
Despite containing one of my favorite line about NYC  "I can't tell you what you think New York will be, but it won't" this film is a miss. The film has a young woman moving to New York and getting involved with the life of her roommates.

Often looking and acting like a home movie it feels like a bunch of friends just got together and threw something together. Admittedly sometimes those sort of things work, but sometimes they don't. Here the getting everyone together my have filled out the cast but it's also resulted in some uneven performances. It doesn't help that it as shot on grainy video which  makes makes the film feel less good than it is.

While I give the filmmakers a lot of points for getting the film made and into a festival, I have to take a bunch away because the film never quite comes together.

Freebird (2021) Slamdance 2022

FREEBIRD may end up my favorite film of 2022. It’s early but it’s light years a head of almost everything else I’ve seen this year.

The film is the story of a man with downs syndrome helping his mom and flashing through his whole life. It’s magical beyond words and beautiful in ways you can’t imagine.

It’s a stunner and then some.

I have no idea where it stands for the Oscars and every other damn award but it should win them.

Oh hell yea it’s manipulative but who the hell cares it’s just a magical.

To paraphrase a line in the film- It’s perfect. (Actually blood relative to the opening of UP- not a riff or rip off but a full blooded equal piece of filmmaking)

See it

Snow White Dies At The End (2022) Slamdance 2022

This poster perfectly sums up the film but you won't understand it until you see it

SNOW WHITE DIES AT THE END is the intersecting stories of seven people on the edge of society in a town in Macedonia as told by a fly. Its the story of a doctor trying to keep the son of a dead friend out of trouble. The tale of three buddies who hang out at a video store and a radio host who falls for a young woman who makes clothes for trees.

Wonderfully off kilter and possessing it's own sense of reality (there is a haunted toilet) SNOW WHITE is a film that wanders all over the place and as a result sucks us in. It beautifully gives us an intriguing group of people, some we like, some we don't, and then runs them through their paces in such a way that we can't help but click into and want to follow along.

Going into the film I didn't know what to expect. The write up of the film on the Slamdance website, and which is repeated elsewhere, wasn't really clear with a reference to people farting backwards making me wonder what they were talking about. Clearly it was something coming from the filmmakers and which didn't do the film justice. This is a solid film about characters and their ups and downs.

Is this film going to be for everyone? Probably not. The time shifting story told on the fly by a fly style may not work for everyone. However if you are willing to go with it, and give it a real shot, I think this is going to be a film that you are going to like a great deal, I did.

It is one of the hidden gems of Slamdance and very recommended.

Trying to explain why I like We Are Living Things (2022) Slamdance 2022

A workman taking up with a Chinese woman living in the US illegally. She is traveling under someone else's identity. The pair seem to know each other and they both share an obsession with an alien abduction that may or may not have happened.

 WE  ARE LIVING THINGS haunts me. I saw the film a couple of weeks before Slamdance and the film flipped a switch in me. Some how it just clicked with me and I have been haunted by the films look and feel and some of the scenes. I don't know why because in a weird way it doesn't do anything special except tell a compelling story.

Before you jump away understand that the film plays things absolutely straight. This is a drama cum thriller that plays things straight. If I walked into this film unaware of what it was about I wouldn't have known where it  was going, not that I could have really guessed. This is a drama and not a science fiction tale.

I have held off writing about the film because I'm not sure what to really say. My thoughts on the film are not about plot and detils but emotion. The film kicks up certin emotions that I can't really describe. It's hard to write up a review that says "I liked the film because it had a certain feel"  and then not be able to explain it.

Basically what I need you to do is take it on faith that WE ARE LIVING THINGS is worth at least trying. I'm not going to say that you'll fall in love with the film, but I think you will, as with all Slamdance films, find that there is something interesting there. This is basically a film you need to experience more than read about- mostly because my words can't express what I really want to say.

Recommended.

Slamdance shorts-TELOS OR BUST, A TABLE IS AS GOOD AS NINE LIVES, FREEDOM SWIMMER, CD TRIP and WALLS CANNOT KEEP US FROM FLYING

Walls Cannot Keep Us From Flying
Two young Palestinians   in the West Bank use skateboarding as a way of breaking free of their situation. Skating frees them and teaching others to skate help others have an outlet for their frustrations.

This is a really sweet film that is moving on many levels Recommended.

CD TRIP
A young woman finds a flyer on a telephone pole and it leads her down a tunnel of darkness,

This is a solid retro horror that feels as though it was made a couple decades back. I know that may not sound great for some but for those who love retro horror and miss dial up modems.

Recommended

FREEDOM SWIMMER
Deeply moving of a grandfather telling her granddaughter in Hong Kong about how he escaped Communist China by “swimming” to Hong Kong and the connection to the young woman who has to leave Hong Kong in the wake of the Chinese crack down.

This is a great story, beautifully told and with a kicker ending that had me getting misty

One of my favorite films at Slamdance

A Table Is as Good as Nine Lives
Wonderful memory piece about a family remembering the Sunday get togethers as they cook.

This is a huge ball of love and nostalgia. It’s a look at the best side of family life amplified by the love of food. This is a joyful that is going to have a long life.

Telos or Bust
A look at the people living around paranormal hot spot Mount Shasta and how they view the mountain and the folk lore that has sprung up around the place.

I honestly have no idea of these people are on to something or not, but it’s an interesting look at a community I knew very little about (I had heard of strange things by the mountain)

ULTRAINOCENCIA (2022) Slamdance 2022

 Manuel Arija has made a totally crazy absolutely compelling film about the search for god via a machine that will allow us to shift dimensions and the two men who become the subjects making the trip..

I really don’t know what to say about this film except see it. This is one of those magical films that is exactly the sort of thing that only the movies can do. It shows you something wild and crazy and makes you stare at the screen in disbelief and delight as you wonder where this is going.

This is a film full of idea, and humor and characters we fall in love with. Did I fully get everything I was witnessing? Not on the first time through, though that’s what revisits are for.

I know I should be talking about what happens but for me one of the joys of this film was discovering where this was going. From the minute  that our two crazy heroes begin stripping  my eyes and my smile just got bigger and bigger.

This is the best sort of filmmaking- and you need to see it without my telling you anything about what you are going to see- If you love movie- especially off Hollywood films you must see this.

Slamdance 2022 Capsules NEW JACK and HANNAH HAHA

NEW JACK
Portrait of wrestler New Jack. This is a portrait of a man whose career has wound down. It’s a gritty and raw film about  a man who is on the fringes of the spotlight, which is now moving away from him.

I really liked this film a great deal. It’s a warts and all look at the wrestling life. It’s a film that doesn’t shy away from the cost of doing professional wrestling. Its all well and good to see what is going on when the matches are going on but this film is one of the most clear eyed looks at the sport.

If you are a fan of the sport or if you want to know about the human cost of wrestling see this film.

HANNAH HA HA
Absolutely sweet film about a young woman who has her life upset when her controlling brother returns home and imposes his way on everyone around him.

This is some really good time with some really good people.  It’s a film that was not initially on my radar but I decided to try it anyway (hey it’s Slamdance which means everything is worth at least trying) and absolutely delighted.

Finding films like this is the reason that I love to cover Slamdance

Recommended.

Slamdance 2022 Capsules PARIS IN HARLEM and STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT

PARIS IN HARLEM
Life in around a jazz club in Harlem when the no dancing law is repealed.

This is a slice of life film with lots of people coming and going. It’s also full of great Jazz and is highly recomended

STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT
Kristen is a disabled young woman who makes a living walking dogs. She wants to be a writer.

An unexpected gem is full of great characters and wise words.  To be honest I was not planning on watching this film however the other films in the Unstoppable Feature section of Slamdance were so good I had to try the film.  I’m glad I did because this film really knocked my socks off.

What an absolute delight. It is beautifully acted by everyone on screen. They are so perfect together that it seems more like we are watching a bunch of friends rather than a scripted story.

Recommended

THE CIVIL DEAD (2022) Slamdance 2022

Grumpy photographer  thinks weekend away from his girlfriend will allow him to sit on the couch and watch TV however a friend comes calling asking for his help. The thing is the friend is a ghost

Low key comedy drama  mixes in the supernatural  for a film that hinges on how you react to the two leads. I say this because I was intrigued  by some of the ideas thrown up by the film about ghosts and such, while at the same time I really didn't like either of the characters much. 

To be honest I don't think that the film is bad, more that it is really not my cup of inde filmmaking tea.

Doggy Love (2021) Slamdance 2022

This is the story of two Aslan and Yanni who run an undeground an underground dog shelter in Iran. Its underground because dogs are viewed as dirty.

This is a raw loook at two people struggling to help the animals they love. It's a verite look at the pair and what they do which is very much like being there.

While I really like this film a great deal I kind of wish there was a little bit of an explanation of what the situation is going in. Running a brief 62 minutes I felt like I was just dropped into the middle of everything and left to flounder. While I picked up things as I went I wish I had a bit more information at the star if only so I didn't feel I missed something in the opening minutes

Recommended.

Facing Monsters (2022) Slamdance 2022

FACING MONSTERS is a portrait of surfer Kerby Brown

I love really good surfing films. I got hooked at my first Tribeca when I saw a film about river surfing knocked my socks off.  Ever since then I am on the look out for films on surfing, particularly at film festivals, because the visuals usually floor me. 

As good as Kerby's story is, the chief reason to see this film is the visuals. Containing some of the most amazing images I’ve ever seen in any films the frightening power of the sea is revealed. I couldn’t believe that people would willingly take on waves of the sort we see in this film. It absolutely blew my mind and then some.

I love this film a great deal. I loved it so much I regrated not seeing it before I did the Slamdance curtain raiser because I would have loved to have included it in my list of recommendations.

This film is a stunner on so many levels.

Recommended.

Slamdance shorts -CATHEDRAL, PLATFORM, SCARLET RED, LITTLE BERLIN and VISITORS

CATHEDRAL
This is a neat animated film where we, nominally, follow a row of marching ants.

PLATFORM
Visually stunning mix of live action and animation that sees delivery services as a video game or phone app. The result is some truly “that is so cool” images that will make you want to hit the rewind button to see it again.

SCARLET RED
Excellent techno update of Poe’s Masque of the Red Death. It has a tactile and visceral quality that leaves on feeling disturbed. Recommended

LITTLE BERLIN
The true story of a cow in a small German town separated from its herd by the iron curtain. Magnificently narrated by Chistoph Waltz the film is both funny and incredibly bitter sweet thanks to Waltz’s note perfect narration.

Easily one of my favorite films of Slamdance

VISITORS
Wicked and gory tale of friends visiting friends. A delight